Grand Unified Theory

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · 27 Aug 2010, 16:50 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: danldo at gmail.com (Dan'l Danehy-Oakes)
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:50:17 -0700
Subject: (urth) Grand Unified Theory
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On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 9:39 AM, Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com> wrote:
\> For me it is a small intuitive leap to further assume that the angels and
> demons of the Bible fit into a similar explanatory framework as gods and monsters
> of pagan mythology for Gene Wolfe. Same story, same "beings", different names and
> interpretations of their behavior.

I think angels would be the same beings when they are in obedience to
God, while devils would be the same beings when in rebellion. The
pagan gods are an interesting question - they are receiving the
worship due only to God, but perhaps they are being used to guide
worship away from worse beings (i.e., devils).

> But what about Father Inire and The Cumaean? How are we to judge their behavior? Does their
> hooded, cowled, old appearance mean anything? Are they more Yoda or Emperor Palpatine?
>
> Hierodules wear masks to cover their youth and beauty while their height remains apparent. I
> get the impression that Father Inire's and The Cumaean's shortness and oldness is not a
> disguse. So, I must guess they are not analogues to angelic beings but are rather analogues to
> pagan gods or fallen angels or perhaps both. ?Pagan gods and fallen angels might be exactly
> the same thing in Gene Wolfe's philosophy.

Again, the question is whether they are in obedience to God (or to the
representatives of God they are given -- viz. Gabriel's comment) or
not. We have no real way of knowing, that I can see, whether Inire and
the Cumaean are or not. Certainly, though, they do not seem to demand
worship, which would be a point in their favor.

-- 
Dan'l Danehy-Oakes

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